My Natural Life

So I realised it has been forever since I have done a blog and so much is going on around here.

Lilli starts kindy in two & a half weeks, Judah is nearly four months old, & my vegie patch is finally built, now to just add in all the dirt/soil/mulch/straw/poo so that I can plant something by late february-early march. I am relatively new to this whole vegie growing thing. I have pretty good memories of my Mum's massive vegies patch on the farm, but I don't really recall much about when we planted stuff and what we did to nuture all that wonderful produce. So with a bit of help from the Father-in-law, my Dad, Brother and "Better Homes & Gardens" I plan to become a bit of an expert.

I am not sure if I have ever really explained some stuff to anyone, but I have a bit of a philosophy on living on this earth, which has really become more of a lifestyle since having kids. Basically what I try to do is use produce as close to how God put it on this earth. So pretty much all our cooking comes from using fresh produce. So an example would be that we don't buy jars of pasta sauce, or curry sauce. My thinkiing is that if I can do this then I cut out as much processed food and goods as possible, therefore I am not eating as many preservatives or fake flavour, and there is less energy used in the food getting to my table. Food wise this also means that I prefer not to eat diet or low fat products. In general if my Nanna couldn't have made what I am making then it doesn't get made.

Of course there are exceptions and I do have some vices left: Pepsi-Max or Coke Zero, and rice crackers are pretty much what I love! and of course at parties or special occassions there is the need for a few chips/lollies to be had.

But I am hoping with the inclusion of a vegie patch into our lives some things will get improved on even more. At the moment we buy products like Tomato paste. I have made my own before and it is really quite simple but you need a lot of tomatoes. When I made it before I bought a massive 2kg bag of old tomatoes from the farmer's markets and it worked perfectly, but I find it hard to get there as it is only open on Sundays (which is quite often our busiest day). But hopefully I can work out a way of getting there purchase that old bag of Tommys and save our nice home grown ones for salads and other cooking.

Well here is a list of the produce we buy that we are endeavouring to make homemade versions of:
Curry Paste, Tomatoe Paste, Salad Dressings, Mayonnaise, Custard.

This is a list of the staples & other stuff we make homemade versions of:
All sweet biscuits, cakes and some savoury biscuits, Bread (including Naan and Flat Breads), Pasta, Cooked Tomatoes (for pasta sauces etc), dried fruit (for cakes and snacks), Ginger beer and citrus cordials. Oh and we also make our own clothes detergent and household cleaners.

Some of you may ask why. Well for me it is simple. I believe that God made all of this earth and our bodies, the plants and animals around us, for us to care for and sustain us. How he made it is irrelavant for me; whether by a big bang or a literal six days of fascinating creation I don't really care. What is important for is me is that I believe God made it and I am sure that he made it for us to live in and with. I believe that over the years whether by neglect or ignorance we have treated all of creation badly and that as a consequence we are faced with pollution and illnesses of all kinds altering the beauty of this natural world. We have been bad stewards of what was entrusted to us,

This is just my little way of trying to neutralise my negative impact on the world. It's my way of being a good example to my little girl, who I hope grows up with a far better opinion of herself than I had, and who understands so much more about how her actions impact on herself, others and all of creation.

Genesis 1

27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

29 Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground — everything that has life.” And that is what happened.